The 4G speeds come at a price however: not in terms of the data plan, as Verizon has continued its $30 monthly plan, which is the same charge for a 3G handset. No, the price of fast connectivity comes in the form of a fast battery drain. The first reviews (ours is forthcoming next week) show the ThunderBolt’s battery running dry at little as three hours if used continuously on 4G speeds. And a few early tweets confirm similar battery drains.

D/L'ed 2GB of data over LTE in 1 hour. Sucked down 40% of the battery. Single charge could provide approx 2.5 hours and 5GB.

Further challenging the issue is the lack of a toggle switch on the ThunderBolt to disable 4G for a fallback to 3G. Such a widget is available on Sprint’s 4G phones and I anticipate one appearing for the ThunderBolt in the very near future. For the time being, users can type in the following code on the phone’s dialer and then choose CDMA Auto to manually make the switch: *#*#4636#*#*

But Apple may face competition against its iPod touch in the new Samsung Galaxy Player devices: two new Android media players that double pocketable web browsers. The new 4- and 5-inch Players build off momentum from Samsung’s Galaxy S phone line and share many of the same features. Both have large touchscreen displays, dual cameras, fast processors and access to the Android Market. Without a cellular radio, these handhelds use Wi-Fi for connectivity, which limits where they can be used, but also eliminates carrier contracts and monthly service bills. Samsung is even challenging Apple’s iTunes ecosystem with its own digital stores for music, video and e-book content, all of which make the Galaxy Player a potential alternative to the iPod touch.